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Fast habituation to semantic interference generated by taboo connotation in reading aloud
Simone Sulpizio1,2, Michele Scaltritti3, Giacomo Spinelli1
1Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy.
Cognition & Emotion
|January 31, 2024
Summary
Taboo words slow down reading aloud, but this effect quickly habituates. Semantic interference from taboo words is reduced by habituation, showing flexible cognitive control in speech.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Linguistics
Background:
- Taboo words, or socially inappropriate words, are known to cause semantic interference.
- This interference can negatively impact performance on cognitive tasks.
- Reading aloud taboo words involves overt violation of sociolinguistic norms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate taboo interference during reading aloud.
- To determine if habituation or cognitive control processes manage taboo interference.
- To differentiate semantic, task, and response conflict in taboo word processing.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed a reading aloud task with taboo and non-taboo words.
- A vocal Stroop task with varying conflict conditions was administered.
- Interference effects and habituation were measured by response times.
Main Results:
- Taboo words were read slower than non-taboo words, but this effect habituated quickly over trials.
- Habituation allowed participants to focus on task-relevant information.
- In the Stroop task, only semantic conflict showed significant reduction due to habituation.
Conclusions:
- Semantic interference from taboo words is subject to rapid habituation.
- Cognitive control flexibly adjusts semantic processing based on contextual appropriateness.
- This suggests semantic processing is a flexible, goal-directed component of reading aloud.
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